Methodist Court Removes Openly Lesbian Minister

sermonindex Nov 1, 2005

In a pair of decisions that bolstered conservatives, the highest court of the United Methodist Church defrocked an openly lesbian minister yesterday and reinstated a pastor who had been suspended for refusing to allow a gay man to become a member of his congregation.The nine-member court, the Judicial Council, also ruled in two other cases that church law superseded local resolutions that were more inclusive toward gay men and lesbians.The series of decisions come at a time when disputes over the role of gay men and women in the clergy, and whether to bless same-sex unions, are roiling the mainline churches. The rulings served to reaffirm the Methodists' traditional stance against the ordination of "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals."In the best-known of the cases decided yesterday, the Judicial Council removed from the ministry Irene Elizabeth Stroud, who told her Philadelphia congregation in 2003 that she was a lesbian in a long-term relationship with another woman.

sermonindex Nov 2, 2005

Praise God for standing on God's word!

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PaulWiglaf Nov 2, 2005

Brethren, this brings up a question that's been working in my mind: How does the Church deal with heresies and apostasy? If you excommunicate a person from one church, they just move to another and so on...What happened to the governing of ourselves as a Body, ridding it of cancer while not destroying the nutrients and cells within? Are we not to have judges among ourselves (I Cor. 6:1-11)?This is something I'm going to go sit and pray over. I'd appreciate your comments.Blessings,Benjamin

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groh_frog Nov 2, 2005

Yes, we are called to accountability within the chruch. You're right, though. Elihu tells Job about how God will cast a man from his presence, so that he won't even want to eat, until he turns from his ways. Unfortunately, pride and deception seem to provide another outlet that is willing to tell that person that they're not really wrong at all.There is, however, a process to correcting a brother. Confront them yourself, then with a Brother, then in front of the congregation until they repent. And I've seen this work, but only in the stronger churches. It would be good to see more accountability, even within my own church. But keep in mind that correction must be done in love, and we must look for the plank in our own eyes, too. It's hard, and often hard to execute, but "the Lord disciplines those he loves".Grace and Peace...

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PaulWiglaf Nov 2, 2005

Groh_frog:Thank you; that's an aspect that is easily forgotten or abused. In zeal for truth, forgotten. In misplaced affection, abused. I've seen both. I pray that the Church will awaken in all of the body. In Christ's name, may it be so. Amen.God bless you,Benjamin

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groh_frog Nov 6, 2005

A question on this, but what's the doctrine of the methodist church? How does it differ from, say, southern baptist?Grace and Peace...